The Liber Pontificalis (Latin for Book of the Popes) is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II (867–872) or Pope Stephen V (885–891),[1] but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447) and then Pope Pius II (1458–1464).[2] Although quoted virtually uncritically from the 8th to 18th century,[3] the Liber Pontificalis has undergone intense modern scholarly scrutiny as an "unofficial instrument of pontifical propaganda."[1]

The title Liber Pontificalis goes back to the 12th century, although it only became current in the 15th century, and the canonical title of the work since the edition of Duchesne in the 19th century. In the earliest extant manuscripts it is referred to as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae, and later the Gesta or Chronica pontificum.[1]

The modern interpretation, following that of Louis Duchesne, who compiled the major scholarly edition, is that the Liber Pontificalis was gradually and unsystematically compiled, and that the authorship is impossible to determine, with a few exceptions (e.g. the biography of Pope Stephen II (752–757) to papal "Primicerius" Christopher; the biographies of Pope Nicholas I and Pope Adrian II (867–872) to Anastasius).[2] Duchesne and others have viewed the beginning of the Liber Pontificalis up until the biographies of Pope Felix III (483–492) as the work of a single author, who was a contemporary of Pope Anastasius II (496-498), relying on Catalogus Liberianus, which in turn draws from the papal catalogue of Hippolytus of Rome,[2] and the Leonine Catalogue, which is no longer extant.[5] Most scholars believe the Liber Pontificalis was first compiled in the 5th or 6th century.[6]

Because of the use of the vestiarium, the records of the papal treasury, some have hypothesized that the author of the early Liber Pontificalis was a clerk of the papal treasury.[2]Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1788) summarised the scholarly consensus as being that the Liber Pontificalis was composed by "apostolic librarians and notaries of the viiith and ixth centuries" with only the most recent portion being composed by Anastasius.[7]

Duchesne and others believe that the author of the first addition to the Liber Pontificalis was a contemporary of Pope Silverius (536–537), and that the author of another (not necessarily the second) addition was a contemporary of Pope Conon (686–687), with later popes being added individually and during their reigns or shortly after their deaths.[2]

The Liber Pontificalis originally only contained the names of the bishops of Rome and the durations of their pontificates.[4] As enlarged in the 6th century, each biography consists of: the birth name of the pope and that of his father, place of birth, profession before elevation, length of pontificate, historical notes of varying thoroughness, major theological pronouncements and decrees, administrative milestones (including building campaigns, especially of Romanchurches), ordinations, date of death, place of burial, and the duration of the ensuing sede vacante.[1]

Pope Adrian II (867–872) is the last pope for which there are extant manuscripts of the original Liber Pontificalis: the biographies of Pope John VIII, Pope Marinus I, and Pope Adrian III are missing and the biography of Pope Stephen V (885–891) is incomplete. From Stephen V through the 10th and 11th centuries, the historical notes are extremely abbreviated, usually with only the pope's origin and reign duration.[2]

Duchesne attributes all biographies from Pope Gregory VII to Urban II to Pandulf,[2] while earlier historians like Giesebrecht[8] and Watterich[9] attributed the biographies of Gregory VII, Victor III, and Urban II to Petrus Pisanus, and the subsequent biographies to Pandulf. These biographies until those of Pope Martin IV (1281–1285) are extant only as revised by Petrus Guillermi in the manuscripts of the monastery of St. Gilles having been taken from the Chronicle of Martin of Opava.[2]

The two collections of papal biographies of the 15th century remain independent, although they may have been intended to be continuations of the Liber Pontificalis. The first extends from popes Benedict XII (1334–1342) to Martin V (1417–1431), or in one manuscript to Eugene IV (1431–1447). The second extends from Pope Urban VI (1378–1389) to Pope Pius II (1458–1464).[2]

The Liber Pontificalis was first edited by J. Busæus under the title Anastasii bibliothecarii Vitæ seu Gesta. Romanorum Pontificum (Mainz, 1602). A new edition, including the Historia ecclesiastica of Anastasius, was edited by Fabrotti (Paris, l647). Another edition, editing the older Liber Pontificalis up to Pope Adrian II and adding Pope Stephen VI, was compiled by Fr. Bianchini (4 vols., Rome, 1718–35; a projected fifth volume did not appear).[2] Muratori reprinted Bianchini's edition, adding the remaining popes through John XXII (Scriptores rerum Italicarum, III). Migne also republished Bianchini's edition, adding several appendixes (P. L., CXXVII-VIII).[2]

Modern editions include those of Louis Duchesne (Liber Pontificalis. Texte, introduction et commentaire, 2 vols., Paris, 1886–92) and Theodor Mommsen (Gestorum Pontificum Romanorum pars I: Liber Pontificalis, Mon. Germ. hist., Berlin, 1898). Duchesne incorporates the Annales Romani (1044–1187) into his edition of the Liber Pontificalis, which otherwise relies on the two earliest known recensions of the work (530 and 687).[4] Mommsen's edition is incomplete, extending only until 715.[2] Translations and further commentaries appeared throughout the 20th century.

Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs(Liber Pontificalis). Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 1989. ISBN 0-85323-216-4 (an English translation for general use, but not including scholarly notes).

Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs(Liber Pontificalis). Second Edition. Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 2000. ISBN 0-85323-545-7 Stops with Pope Constantine, 708-715. Contains an extensive and up to date bibliography,

Raymond Davis, "The Lives of the Eighth Century Popes" Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 1992. From 715 to 817.

Raymond Davis, "The Lives of the Ninth Century Popes" Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 1989. From 817 to 891.